The Gulf Oil Spill: A Texan’s appreciation

The Gulf Oil Spill should be seen as an event of majesty and awe, in the words of 87-year-old Rep. Ralph Hall, R-Texas, incoming chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee.

The old Texas Tory used a Dallas Morning News interview to proclaim himself an “unconditional champion of fossil fuels,” and to promise vigorous interrogation of climate scientists called before his committee.

And, then, Hall rhapsodized about what most consider one of the greatest environmental disasters in American history.

“As we saw that thing bubble out, blossoming out — all that energy, every minute of every hour of every day of every week — that was tremendous to me,” Hall declared. “That we could deliver that kind of energy out there — even on an explosion.”

The remark is the second controversial Spill-related comment from a senior Texas Republican.

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, used a House committee hearing to denounce as a “shakedown” by the White House the $20 billion fund set up by BP to cover costs and damages of the spill. Barton apologized to BP’s then-CEO Tony Hayward.

Hall’s new position also shows how the Republican Party is changing.

When the GOP last controlled the House, the Science/Technology Committee was chaired by Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-New York. Boehlert was a GOP environmentalist who warned of global warming and championed efforts to clean up the nation’s waterways.

Boehlert retired in 2006. He is now on the board of the League of Conservation Voters, fighting to protect places like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from the Ralph Halls of the world.